Wind Turbine Payback in Sheridan County, WY
Wind turbine payback in Sheridan County
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Sheridan County, WY averages 5.63 m/s (12.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,980 kWh a year, worth $2,379 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 42 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Sheridan County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Sheridan County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 5.63 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,253 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,698, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 29¢/kWh, 2.1 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 5.63. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Sheridan County is the 1,151st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WY is Albany County at 7.32 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Sheridan County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.78 m/s and about 2,165 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.55 m/s and 820 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Sheridan County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.78 m/s | 2,165 kWh | $303 |
| February | 6.26 m/s | 1,659 kWh | $232 |
| March | 5.96 m/s | 1,647 kWh | $231 |
| April | 5.57 m/s | 1,357 kWh | $190 |
| May | 5.25 m/s | 1,214 kWh | $170 |
| June | 4.88 m/s | 965 kWh | $135 |
| July | 4.55 m/s | 820 kWh | $115 |
| August | 4.72 m/s | 909 kWh | $127 |
| September | 5.07 m/s | 1,068 kWh | $150 |
| October | 5.86 m/s | 1,585 kWh | $222 |
| November | 6.14 m/s | 1,702 kWh | $238 |
| December | 6.47 m/s | 1,971 kWh | $276 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Sheridan County averages 4.37 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.33 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.230, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,402 to 22,151 kWh a year, 65% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower. Why tower height decides it explains the shear behind these numbers.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 5.13 m/s | 13,402 kWh | 53 years |
| 30 m | 5.63 m/s | 16,968 kWh | 42 years |
| 40 m | 6.01 m/s | 19,803 kWh | 36 years |
| 50 m | 6.33 m/s | 22,151 kWh | 32 years |
Counties around Sheridan County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Powder River County, averages 6.12 m/s.
- Johnson County, WY: 4.98 m/s, 12,400 kWh, payback 58 years (53 mi)
- Big Horn County, MT: 5.44 m/s, 15,605 kWh, payback 45 years (53 mi)
- Big Horn County, WY: 4.34 m/s, 8,403 kWh, payback 85 years (58 mi)
- Washakie County, WY: 4.36 m/s, 8,517 kWh, payback 84 years (74 mi)
- Powder River County, MT: 6.12 m/s, 20,594 kWh, payback 34 years (78 mi)
- Campbell County, WY: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 36 years (79 mi)
Sun versus wind in Sheridan County
Sheridan County gets 4.29 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,253 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,698. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 times. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio. Wind or solar runs the same comparison for every county.
How this is worked out
Wind is NASA's Power climate record, the 2001-2025 average at 10 m and 50 m for the county's centre, carried to 30 m with this county's own measured wind shear and spread into hours with a Rayleigh distribution. The turbine is a generic 10 kW, 7 m rotor machine with 10% losses. Cost is $10,000 per kW installed with no tax credit, because the federal one ended in 2025. One county-centre number cannot see your hilltop or your tree line, so treat it as the starting point for a site survey, not a substitute. The full method and its weak spots are in how the numbers are made.